Worcesteria Aug. 29, 2013

Thursday

Aug 29, 2013 at 5:00 AM

YOU GOTTA HAVE GOALS: School Superintendent Melinda Boone has shared her goals for next year with the School Committee. Among them, she says by September 2014 there will be a “20 percent increase in the number of positive media reports” about the school system. That got our attention, since very little in the way of information comes our way out of the schools’ administrative offices. An increase would be most welcome. School Committee member Tracy O’Connell Novick says that particular goal reflects issues the board has raised in the past. “There are things in our schools that are good that don’t get much coverage,” Novick says. “We don’t control our press and I certainly understand that, but we can potentially do a better job of projecting the amazing things that happen in school every day.” Novick declined to assess an overall grade when it comes to the administration’s communication with the media, saying, “I think it varies on what department you’re talking about.” Worcesteria doesn’t mind slapping a grade to a couple departments. Brian Allen, the chief financial officer, gets an “A+” for being highly responsive. Chief Academic Officer Marco Rodrigues, on the other hand, merits a “D-” – only because we don’t like flunking people. Boone herself is a “D” student when it comes to returning phone calls, but a “B” or so when you catch her at a meeting.

MASS CONCERN: More Massachusetts families are saving for college, according to Fidelity Investments’ seventh annual College Savings Indicator study, which reports 68 percent of families say they have started saving. That is up from 65 percent last year and 59 percent in 2008. Nationally, college savings are up, with parents setting aside an average of $5,000 last year. And in Massachusetts there was a 20-percent increase in the number of new U.Fund College Plans opened in the first half of this year. Still, Massachusetts parents say they plan to pay for 60 percent of the total cost of college, but are on track to afford just 22 percent. Twenty-three percent of parents in Massachusetts say they have asked their kids to contribute toward the cost of college, with an average starting age of 13.3. If you have a child in high school with his or her sights set on college, it’s something worth thinking about.

A RESIDENT CONCERN: The announcement by City Planner Joel Fontaine that he is stepping down to take a job in Illinois did more than raise questions about just how City Hall will replace such a valuable member of its team; it brought the push for a uniform residency requirement back into the spotlight. Officials will likely want another Worcesterite to fill Fontaine’s shoes. You don’t have to look far for critics of a residency requirement. “I’m not a fan,” At-Large Councilor and former Mayor Konnie Lukes says of a measure championed by Mayor Joe Petty. “I started out that way, but when I saw all the obstacles … I just think it’s a stupid kind of process. I hope we don’t’ get stuck another year waiting to fill that spot.” The city, Lukes says, is doing itself no favors by requiring employees to live within city limits. “Are we on the right track with the residency requirement if we want to be a first-class city by closing our borders?”

EXCUSE HER: At-Large Councilor Kate Toomey has some folks wondering why she got up and left a recent meeting of the City Council’s Public Service & Transportation Committee when topic turned to National Grid and its controversial Smart Grid Pilot program. You’ll have to keep guessing, because Toomey isn’t saying anything more than a “personal matter.” As for her thoughts on NGrid and the substation on Tory Fort Lane that has so many folks in a tizzy, Toomey says, “I think people need to be involved in what happens in their own community. They have every right to be involved.”

WRONG CITY: Shuli Xu has heard the critics and naysayers and he just doesn’t get it. “Worcester’s a good place,” the dean of students for the newly-named MCPHS University says. Xu tells the story of a man he heard talking about how he was afraid to live in Worcester because of all the crime and how unsafe it was. “I was like, ‘What? What city are you talking about?’” Count Xu among the city’s fans, something that was evident as he helped celebrate the opening of new apartments at 371-379 Main St. Students from MCPHS will be among those taking up residency there.

TAKE THAT: Speaking of the old Marcus Building, At-Large Councilor Phil Palmieri appeared to be taking a none-too-thinly-veiled shot at Dean Marcus during his comments at the ribbon cutting at 371-379 Main St. Marcus, of course, owns property on Front Street, including the Midtown Mall, which some offi cials see as rundown and standing in the way of a downtown bustling with new development. “Sometimes,” Palmieri says, “we have to push very, very hard. Sometimes there’s a resistance in the private sector that doesn’t want to see things happen as quickly as we would like to see. This is part of … the Marcus empire that will hopefully move forward in going south.” Ouch!

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